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Until today, the Biden campaign has avoided speaking out about the accusation by Tara Reade.
When former Vice President Joe Biden appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” this morning, he finally addressed the allegations that have recently started to gain traction in the news.
When asked by Mika Brzezinski on “Morning Joe” whether the accusation by Tara Reade was true, Biden strongly denied it.
“No, it is not true. I’m saying unequivocally, it did not happen and it didn’t.” He also said that his campaign has not reached out to Reade, and he didn’t answer a question about whether he remembered her.
Biden said, “This is an open book. There’s nothing for me to hide. Nothing at all.”
He went on to say that “Women have a right to be heard. In any case, the truth matters, and in this case the truth is the claims are false.”
“I’m not going to question her motive. I don’t know why she is saying this. I don’t know why after 27 years this is being raised – I don’t understand it,” he said.
Biden also revealed that he has “never asked anybody to sign an NDA. There are no NDAs, period, in my case.”
Shortly before Joe Biden appeared on the “Morning Joe,” his campaign released a statement.
“I want to address allegations by a former staffer that I engaged in misconduct 27 years ago,” said Biden in the statement. “They aren’t true. This never happened.
“While the details of these allegations of s-xual harassment and s-xual assault are complicated, two things are not complicated. One is that women deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. And when they step forward they should be heard. Not silenced.”
Biden also addressed issues with stories of how Tara Reade’s allegation appears to have many inconsistencies.
“The second is that their stories should be subject to appropriate inquiry and scrutiny. Responsible news organizations should examine and evaluate the full and growing record of inconsistencies in her story, which has changed repeatedly in both small and big ways.
“But this much bears emphasizing,” he said. “She has said she raised some of these issues with her supervisor and senior staffers from my office at the time. They — both men and a woman — have said, unequivocally, that she never came to them and complained or raised issues.
“News organizations that have talked with literally dozens of former staffers have not found one — not one — who corroborated her allegations in any way. Indeed, many of them spoke to the culture of an office that would not have tolerated harassment in any way — as indeed I would not have.”
When asked about comments he made in regard to Blasey Ford and Reade, Biden said that the facts between the two cases are different. “The facts of this case do not exist. There are so many inconsistencies in this case. I assure you it did not happen. Period. Period.”
Reade claimed that she filed a written complaint during that time, but it hasn’t been located. The statement said the complaint does not exist in the National Archives.
“There is only one place a complaint of this kind could be—the National Archives. The National Archives is where the records are kept at what was then called the Office of Fair Employment Practices.”
Biden requested that the “Secretary of the Senate ask the Archives to identify any record of the complaint she alleges she filed and make available to the press any such document. If there was ever any such complaint, the record will be there.”
When Biden was asked if he was absolutely sure no records exist, he said, “I know of no one who was aware of any complaint that was made.”
Related: Biden Faced Increasing Calls to Comment on Tara Reade Allegations
In her allegation, Tara Reade said that Joe Biden had inappropriately touched her in the early 1990s. Because of conflicting information, many news outlets have seemingly avoided publishing her story.
When questioned about Reade’s allegations in the past, the Biden Campaign avoided public questioning and instead referred to a statement from Biden’s deputy campaign manager, Kate Bedingfield.
“Vice President Biden has dedicated his public life to changing the culture and the laws around violence against women,” said Bedingfield in the statement.
“He authored and fought for the passage and reauthorization of the landmark Violence Against Women Act. He firmly believes that women have a right to be heard — and heard respectfully.
“Such claims should also be diligently reviewed by an independent press. What is clear about this claim: it is untrue. This absolutely did not happen.”
On Thursday, President Trump urged Biden to respond publicly to the allegations. However, since the President is also facing numerous accusations himself, he was cautious in defending Reade.
“I don’t know anything about it,” said Trump of the allegation. “I think that he should respond. You know, it could be false accusations. I know all about false accusations. I have been falsely charged numerous times.”
Many media outlets asked to speak with Biden over the allegations, including POLITICO. The campaign decided to go with “Morning Joe” because they believed it would be a better forum for the topic to be addressed.
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